Because consumers are quarantined, they’re spending more time on social media than ever — in fact, usage of social media has increased by 40% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Why? Because it’s a great way for people to connect with friends, family, and brands. Although the power of social media is no secret, if your business is new to it or hasn’t been consistently active on it, you may not know about all of its benefits — or how your business needs to leverage it. To help give your business the upper hand, our content experts are here with everything your business needs to do right now on social media, so you can tap into this lifeline and your business can survive the coronavirus pandemic.
This is Your One Shot to Engage with Your Community Everyday — Make it Count
No matter the industry, communication with your customers has been impacted, and we know that this challenging time makes it hard to see the upside of any situation. However, we are fortunate to be living in a time where social media is available and popular, and it has become a business’s lifeline for establishing connections and growing loyalty with their consumers. Here’s the social media strategy your business needs to implement now:
- Post at least once a day, seven days a week
- Incorporate a variety of content:
- New promotions, specials, discounts, services (IE takeout, delivery, etc.)
- Shout outs to other local businesses to show your support (tagging and sharing)
- Engagement posts (throwbacks, “comment back” questions, poll questions, etc.)
- Sharing customer reviews
- Videos of what you’re currently doing to improve your business/help your community
- Incorporate a variety of hashtags on all Instagram posts
- Respond to all customer comments and direct messages
- Use Instagram and Facebook stories and include the following:
- New post alerts
- Inspirational quotes
- Funny memes
- Share posts from relevant accounts
Make Your Social Media Feed Thrive by Going LIVE
Instagram and Facebook have a feature that enables live streaming, which is an opportunity to post longer video content and interact with your consumers in real-time. Some content ideas for IG or FB live segments include:
- How to utilize a new product/service
- Highlighting new ways to use a product/service
- Making an announcement
- Giving lessons/classes:
- Hospitality businesses: Give cooking classes
- Retail businesses: Highlight new ways to style an outfit
- Auto businesses: Share auto knowledge
- Home services businesses: Discuss issues people can address now
- Interior decorators: Provide DIY ideas
- Realtors: Share “walk through ready” ideas
- Teachers: Provide homeschooling tips
- Fitness instructors: Provide exercise classes
Because you can go live for up to one hour, the content possibilities are endless! If you feel comfortable being on camera, try to do it without a script — it will come off as more genuine. However, if you are new to this feature, you may want to use a script as a rough guideline to help you stay on track and get your message across effectively.
Sharing FREE Content is Your Business’s Secret Weapon
Every business owner has a secret power: their expert knowledge in their industry, and this is the time to share it with the world for free. This doesn’t mean you need to give up ALL of your knowledge for free, but there are certainly things you can provide to your target audiences, such as:
- How to handle finances
- Homeschooling tips
- Kid-friendly recipes
- Alcoholic beverage recipes
- DIY tricks
- Ways to support communities right now
- Health & fitness suggestions
- Home project guidance
- Mental health activities
During difficult times, such as this COVID-19 quarantine, consumers want to see brands step it up and help them out. By providing free content now, you will increase your chances of keeping current customers loyal to your brand while also attracting new ones.
Eye-Catching Images Will Give You a Leg Up
Although the caption on a social media post helps convey your message and highlights your brand’s voice, the images and graphics are what catch a consumer’s attention. In fact, research has found that Facebook posts that have an image receive 3x more shares; Twitter posts with an image receive 2x more shares; and when it comes to Instagram, an image (or video) is required. Image ideas include:
- You and your employees on the job (social distancing, of course)
- Behind the scenes looks into your business
- Community outreach pictures
- Boomerangs of products
- Boomerangs of you and/or your employees (social distancing)
- High-quality graphics promoting new specials, discounts, services (IE takeout, delivery, etc.)
Here at beMarketing, we know that businesses of all sizes are feeling the impacts of this pandemic, but it’s important to remember two things: social media IS extremely instrumental right now, and we are here for you! Our Hive is buzzing more than ever with ideas that will help businesses navigate this time, so more tips, tricks, and tactics will be flying your way, and we hope you continue to Thrive With the Hive. If you would like more marketing tips on how to keep your business thriving, please don’t hesitate to contact us today.
